On July 3, the Washington Redskins already announced plans to change their visual identity. This Monday, the US football team finally came to the conclusion that it had to change its logo and name, judged by some racists and out of step with current times. "Today we are announcing that we will be removing the Redskins name and logo at the end of this season," the club said in a statement. Dan Snyder (franchise owner) and Coach Rivera (Ron Rivera, the team coach) are working closely to develop a new name and a new approach that will enhance the reputation of our proud and tradition-rich franchise and inspire our sponsors, fans and community for the next 100 years. "
pic.twitter.com/wFvTxdUP9s
- Washington Redskins (@Redskins) July 13, 2020Beyond the societal aspect, this decision also responds to an economic imperative, since the main sponsors of the franchise, FedEx, Nike, Pepsi and Bank of America, had all called Dan Snyder, the boss of the now future ex-Redskins , to change name. Some distributors of derivative products had also decided to no longer show the products stamped Redskins on their site, and the NFL broadcaster, ESPN, no longer wanted to display the logo during retransmissions. The situation had therefore become very difficult for the franchise, whose name dates back to its creation in 1933.
Still waiting for the new name
But the decision will not be effective immediately: a new name should be found before the start of the next season in September, and until then, social networks and the official website of the franchise will continue to display the name " Redskins ". So, we could see appearing by then, the Washington Senators (the Senators), the Washington Warriors (the Warriors), or the Washington Red Tails (the Red Tails).
The franchise is not the first to change its name in the USA for societal reasons, and should soon be followed by the Cleveland Indian Baseball team, also at the heart of a controversy linked to their name, and which are no longer using their mascot (a Native American) on their official products.
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